Reading Comprehension Flashcards
7 cards from real C2 practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Reading Comprehension flashcards as text
A C2 reader encounters the phrase 'the legislation was not without its detractors.' What does this most precisely mean?
Answer: The legislation faced some opposition
'Not without its detractors' is a double negative meaning the legislation did have critics or opponents.
When an author describes a character as 'Sisyphean in his ambitions,' the most accurate interpretation is that the character:
Answer: Pursues unattainable goals through endless, futile effort
Sisyphean alludes to the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to roll a boulder uphill forever, symbolizing endless futile effort.
A passage states: 'While proponents hailed the reform as transformative, its opponents decried it as a Pyrrhic victory for progressives.' What does 'Pyrrhic victory' imply here?
Answer: A victory achieved with great personal sacrifice or at too high a cost
A Pyrrhic victory is one won at such a great cost that it is tantamount to defeat, referencing King Pyrrhus's costly battles.
In academic prose, a writer states: 'The evidence is, at best, circumstantial.' The phrase 'at best' functions here to:
Answer: Concede that even the most favorable reading of the evidence is limited
'At best' signals that even in the most favorable interpretation, the evidence is only circumstantial — a hedging device indicating its weakness.
A literary passage describes a setting as 'suffused with a sepulchral stillness.' The word 'sepulchral' most nearly means:
Answer: Relating to tombs or death; gloomy
Sepulchral derives from 'sepulchre' (tomb) and describes a gloomy, deathly quiet atmosphere.
An author writes: 'Her argument, though superficially persuasive, ultimately founders on its own internal contradictions.' The word 'founders' in this context means:
Answer: Fails or collapses
To 'founder' means to fail or break down, often used when a ship sinks — here the argument collapses under its own contradictions.
Which reading strategy is most appropriate when a C2-level reader encounters a passage dense with subordinate clauses and embedded qualifications?
Answer: Identify the main clause first, then interpret each qualification's relationship to it
Identifying the main clause grounds the reader's understanding, allowing subordinate clauses and qualifications to be interpreted as modifiers or caveats.